Like house cats, they mew, yowl, hiss and spit, even purr. But they have larger bodies, black hair tufts on their ears, a leonine mane of hair, and oversized furry feet that can act as snowshoes. And unlike house cats, lynx are threatened or endangered in the lower 48 states.

These tawny, tufty animals prefer mature forests and solitude when not mating or rearing young. A lynx will have her litter in a hollow log, stump, or thicket, and will care for the kittens until the next mating season.

Lynx hunting behavior is catlike: waiting in ambush or stalking and then pouncing. The mother and kittens may hunt in groups until the young go their own way.

The survival of the kittens and adults depends on the supply of snowshoe hares, their preferred prey, although the human menaces (habitat loss and hunting or trapping them for their handsome fur) are worse.